Green Day - Warning

Recently, in a few random conversations with random groups of people, I have been saying that Green Day’s Warning is one of the most under-rated albums of all time. I realized, after repeating this assertion a few times, that I should (a) relisten to Warning, make sure it really is as good as I remember, and (b) actually look into how it was received. And once I came to these conclusions, I figured it was about time to stop being lazy and finally write another blog.

So, first things first, it wasn’t received exactly like I remember (it was released in 2000, my freshman year in high school, so I wasn’t quite up on the non-TRL world of music): I remember only hearing Warning a few years later, when my friend Dave and I bought tickets for the Bullet in a Bible tour, and I made Dave burn me some CDs of everything Green Day ever did. Even people who knew the non-American Idiot albums didn’t really talk much about Warning, with them it was mostly Dookie and Nimrod. In doing a little research for this blog, I saw that Warning actually did get *some* reviews, they just weren’t all that great.

Some excerpts:
The Village Voice: 9/10 “The whole thing breathes with neat ambiences.”
The Onion (AV Club): “Green Day has never made a record so slick and musically mature.”
Billboard: 7/10
Spin: 3 stars “By design, the band doesn’t rock as hard as it used to. Doesn’t punk as hard as it used to either.”Rolling Stone: 3 stars “Who wants to listen to songs of faith, hope, and social commentary from what used to be snot-core’s biggest-selling band?” (I knew there was a reason I stopped getting Rolling Stone)
MOJO Magazine: 1 star “Warning is the sound of three men growing old far too gracefully.”

Now, while none of that seems particularly bad (other than MOJO….and really Rolling Stone, 3 stars? Maybe it’s time to get out of Kings of Leon’s ass, that’s all I’m sayin), none of it was particularly outstanding either (though admittedly, I’m having a hard time tracking down Alt Press’ review…if anyone can send me a copy, I’d love you forever ;) ).

And to me (and most people I know who’ve heard most – if not all – Green Day albums), this is the best Green Day release to date, including their Grammy-winning release.

So why is that? Why was it not well received, celebrated like "American Idiot" was? Why is it only the people in the scene (either currently or at the time) who remember it, or for that matter love it and consider it one of the most under-rated albums of all time?

Well, for starters, it pissed off a lot of the old fans - which is where that Rolling Stone review comes in. Green Day burst onto the scene with Dookie and Kerplunk,
two albums titled after taking a dump. They were about teenage boys trying to get out of college and after-school jobs. Warning has a little more meaning than that, it was Green Day's first venture into social commentary, something they perfected with "American Idiot." It's also a whole lot more polished than their previous releases, something that the DIY punk scene in the Bay Area (where they started) wasn't a huge fan of.

So why do I love it? Start at the beginning- the title track "Warning" is simple, catchy, and still somewhat eerie. When a pop-sounding song has the lyrics "Is the cop or am i the one that's really dangerous?/Sanitation, expiration date, question everything/Or shut up and be a victim of authority" can you really still call it pop? Though they were definitely starting to change the sound of pop-punk, they weren't loosing the feeling. Follow that up with "Minority," the biggest song on the album:
I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
'Cause I want to be the minority

I pledge allegiance to the underworld
One nation under dog
There of which I stand alone
A face in the crowd
Unsung, against the mold
Without a doubt
Singled out
The only way I know

I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
'Cause I want to be the minority

Stepped out of the line
Like a sheep runs from the herd
Marching out of time
To my own beat now
The only way I know

One light, one mind
Flashing in the dark
Blinded by the silence of a thousand broken hearts
"For crying out loud" she screamed unto me
A free for all
Fuck 'em all
You are your own sight

I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
'Cause I want to be the minority

When you can get an entire stadium to start moshing, throwing up the middle finger, and screaming "Fuck 'em all," I think you can say that you have changed the minority, given them power, made them their own majority. Or, conversely, you've made the minority cool. With one song, Green Day gave the emo movement a shove into the limelight.

Past the feel of the songs lyrically, I love the musicality of this album. Green Day is lead singer/guitarist Billy Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool. And that works well when you're a couple of punk kids from the Bay Area. But with "Warning" they played around with different arrangements, for instance adding a whole circus soundtrack to "Misery." They also played with the feeling of various songs, going from upbeat and almost pop sounding (Jackass), to slow and thoughtful (Macy's Day Parade), to a more minor key slightly off, creepy sound (Blood, Sex, and Booze), to the straight up rock we're used to from Green Day (Church on Sunday). And somehow, they make *all* of it sound like Green Day. With the growing number of acts that all sound the same, it's great to pick up an album - old or new - that is so distinctive, so different, and yet so cohesive.

So, while some people who watched them grow in the scene may be upset, and those who expected the regular old 3-chord punk album were shocked, this is a classic album. This album showed the talent of a "snot-punk" band that no one expected to go anywhere. And look - they won a Grammy, and have one of the most highly anticipated albums of this year (out in May). This album defined not only the band, but the scene, and the future of pop-punk. Let's give it the respect it deserves.